Troubleshooting Audio Problems

Recent Skype Linux clients (e.g. version 4) will use the pulseaudio sound infrastructure directly if it is running, which it is by default on Ubuntu versions from Lucid on. Checking the sound functionality is therefore the usual procedure of connecting/selecting a sound-input device and checking/adjusting sound levels in the default mixer (via the loudspeaker icon on the toolbar). See the Ubuntu Desktop Guide for your version. If you see a signal on the mixer indicator following the level of your speech into the expected microphone, Skype sound should just work.

(older Ubuntu versions)

(Installing pavucontrol has not been necessary since Lucid Lynx - use the mixer via the toolbar speaker icon instead.)

If you are having audio problems, first check to make sure that sound is working on your system and that your microphone and speaker volume levels are high enough. First test your mic and sound by using the application Sound Recorder. If the mic works, and you cannot hear yourself using the Skype Test Call feature, do the following.

Skype has been known to mess up the mixer settings. So disable the automatic configuration of the mixer controls in Skype: right-click with your mouse on the Skype icon in the system tray - Options - Sound Devices - remove the tick at: Allow Skype to automatically adjust my mixer levels. Click Apply. Then close Skype (right-click with your mouse on the Skype icon - Quit).

Then use Synaptic Package Manager to install pavucontrol (Pulse Audio Volume Controller). Use that application to set up your input device. Most built-in mics are mono. The default setting on the Input Control is to lock the R&L channel together. By reading the mono mic as stereo, PulseAudio cancels the input. Click on the middle button on the upper right of the control panel to unlock the R&L channel. Move either the left or right channel to 10 leaving the other channel about 90. You should now see the VU meter sensing sound. Now start Skype again. The test call should register your voice now.

Does the above fail? Next try configuring pulseaudio according to the pulseaudio website. If that does not work, then try changing the Skype audio device, and finally, if all else fails, modify your ESD configuration.

Selecting Microphone (input device)

Most netbooks/laptops have two input devices, one built into the casing and another one for plugging in an external microphone. In Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and Skype 2.0+ you might have problems selecting the right input device. The following instructions should solve this issue:

1. Install pavucontrol, a program with which you can select audio devices

Skype Audio Device

If your audio levels are properly configured and you can hear audio in Skype but your contacts cannot hear your input, you may need to change Skype's input device. From the Skype menu, choose Tools->Options and select Hand/Headsets in the dialog that opens. Experiment with different Calls selections, if they are available.

Video Problems

Port use

Skype uses port 80 by default, and thus, may block some other applications that use the same port such as Apache. The solution is to change the port in one of the applications. Usually, port 81 is free and works fine. To change the port number in Skype go to menu Tools > Options, then click on the Advanced tab, then in the 'port' box, change to your preference.

System hangs for a short while (few seconds)

Skype apparently creates FIFO threads when initiating a chat with someone. Users members of the admin group (typically the user who has installed Ubuntu) are likely to find this really annoying as the created threads do not relinquish the CPU easily. The first option (maybe the easiest) is to remove yourself from the admin group. You may otherwise intercept calls to pthread_create() with a preloaded (LD_PRELOAD) DSO:

Display configuration

Because Skype is a Qt application, Skype's typeface will appear very large on GNOME desktops. You can use either the kcontrol or the qt3-qtconfig package to configure the appearance of Skype and other KDE/QT applications. Of these two, the QT Configurator (qt3-qtconfig) has far fewer dependencies than kcontrol and may therefore be more convenient for people who mostly use non-KDE software. See also QtGnome for how to make Skype (and other Qt applications) look more like Gnome.

A quick fix, without installing any configuration packages at all, is to make a file qtrc in your $HOME/.qt directory, and put these two lines in it:

[General]
font=Bitstream Vera Sans Mono,9,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0

You can start QT Configurator with the "qtconfig" command. On the "Fonts" tab, choosing Font Family Sans Serif and Point Size 10 will give something that resembles Ubuntu's GNOME desktop.

If you install the kcontrol package, you may run it by entering kcontrol into the Applications/Run Application... prompt. Expand the Appearance & Themes menu and select Fonts. Press Adjust All Fonts and select Size. Lower this value to your preference (size 10 or 11 is usually satisfactory). Press OK and Apply and exit the KDE Control Center.

Skype 4.1 is using QT4. The font can be configure with qtconfig-qt4.

640x480 Video Hack

640x480 video is not officially a Linux feature but it seems to work with the following modification.

Once Skype is working correctly for you, close it down completely and edit this file